In Between - Reader X Steven Stone Story
by Rowiehz
Summary: You are a normal nineteen year old with parents who are archeologists. In the mountains where you make your home, your father and his friends make an unusual discovery, only to have one of his friends turning awfully ill after touching the object. The accident goes worldwide and little do you know that your father's discovery caused a certain group to take action.


Humming along with the song playing in the background, you poured glasses with nice hot chocolate milk. Carefully of course, you didn't wanted your hands to get burned due to your clumsiness.

Tapping and humming along with a song while pouring a hot drink wasn't the best combo in existence. Once the last glass had been filled, you noticed that you had prepared just enough chocolate milk for all the guests, or customers, whatever your father called them. Satisfied, you began to decorate a tray with the five glasses.

"My, my, cheerful today are we?" Your mother asked once she had descended down the stairs. You looked at her with a smile and nodded. "I just like this song. That's why I'm humming along."

Your mother walked to the counter and eyed the five glassed filled with the hot steamy liquid. "Are those for the workers?" Okay, so your mom even had another name for these people. You nodded again. "Yep, dad asked me if I could prepare something for them. I figured since it's winter, that hot chocolate milk suits the best."

"Maybe you should give Farr one as well. He looks like he could use one." Mom pointed at your Cubone, sitting in a depressive manner on one of the chairs in the living room, doing nothing else but stare blankly at nothing.

You sighed at the sight. As much as you wanted to make the lonely pokemon feel any better, it just wouldn't accept any hugs or compliments from you, or anyone for that matter. And at least once every day, your Cubone, whose name is Farr, would sit in a depressive mood somewhere in the house. Not wanting to get any attention at all.

Of course you were the kind of person who would try either way. Ignoring all kind of warnings coming from the lonely pokemon. You were a slow and harsh learner when it came to that. That's because you are determined to make the little guy feel better.

"I think I'll just go and sit next to him after I've delivered the requested tray with glasses to dad's friends." You picked the mentioned tray up and wanted to walk away from the counter, on your way to the door that led outside. But your mother halted you with placing an hand on your shoulder.

"Let me take care of that." She got the tray out of your hands and smiled. "You go and accompany Farr, I cant stand seeing the little thing depressed like this." With that she exited the house and left you here on your own.

The radio on the table was still on. But the song you had been humming to had finished. Luckily it was a CD of your own that had been playing all this time, so you pressed the repeat button and the song began over again.

"

Oh yeah, oh yeah

So scared of breaking it

But you won't let it bend

And I wrote two hundred letters

I won't ever send

Sometimes these cuts are so much

Deeper then they seem

You'd rather cover up

I'd rather let them be"

With a big stupid smile on your face, you began a slow march to the living room while humming and moving along with the music in a very humiliating manner. But who cared, you were the only in the house beside your Cubone. And if he could laugh due your horrible and embarrassing dancing that the outside world honestly should never witness, then you had at least cheered up the little guy.

"So let me be

And I'll set you free."

From the corner of his eye, the small Pokemon gave a warning glare. You had witnessed that glare too many times in your life and knew that his next warning would definitely be a club to your head. But you kept smiling, probably to his irritation since he knew what was going to happen next if he didn't stopped you.

Stopping behind the chair Farr was sitting in, you grasped his tiny hands with your fingertips and moved them along with the rhythm of the music. "Come on Farr, let's dance!" Your hands wrapped themselves around his body and lifted him up into your arms, turning and spinning like a idiot through the living room and kitchen.

A deep grumbling sound came from the depths of Farr's throat before he unleashed his anger with hitting you on the head with his bone club. "Cu- Cubone!" The pokemon screeched and it tried to wring himself out of your grasp while it kept hitting you on the head.

"Ow! Farr, stop that!" You shouted loud above the music. "I'm just trying to make you feel better!"

"I am in misery

There aint nobody

Who can comfort me, oh yeah

Why won't you answer me

The silence is slowly killing me

Oh yeah"

Farr managed to drop out of your arms and you cautiously glanced at the angered Pokemon once it landed on the floor, obviously aware that it wanted to give you a good pummeling for doing something like this to him.

"Come on, Farr. You know you need to cheer up!" you tried to convince him on different thoughts, holding your hands up in a defending manner in front of you. But the Pokemon didn't take that as a reason to halt his next attack. With a loud growl, he swung the bone in his hand and let it slip out of his hand. With a yelp, you ducked to the floor and the bone club missed you with just an inch. You were relieved and let out a sigh to express that.

However, the sudden loud crash and the fading and corrupted voice of Maroon 5 in the background made you gasp in horror. Knowing what to expect, you carefully peeked over your shoulder. Once you saw the wrecked radio you quickly pressed your eyes shut. That radio had cost a fortune…!

"Farr!" you screeched with horror and anger combined. "That radio cost me three weeks of working in the accessories store!"

Farr apparently could care less about your loss. He huffed and retrieved the bone that was laying on the ground close to the table, and strutted back to the seat he had been sitting in before.

"Cu cubone, cubone!"- You deserved that. Leave me alone!

Picking up a few shards of the now wrecked radio and dumping them in the garbage bin next to the counter, you realized that he was right. But like mentioned before, you were just a harsh learner. Everything has to go wrong for a thousand times before it finally got to you.

Although, your Cubone was not an unfriendly Pokemon at all. Even if he usually appeared to be. You've had him since you became fifteen- he was a birthday gift from your parents who had received him as an infant from your aunt Elly in Fortree City, before your brother had left for his dream of becoming a Pokemon master. Your parents figured you would feel lonely without your older sibling around and that had been the reason why you were allowed to finally have a Pokemon of your own.

You kept staring at the back of the motionless body of Farr as he sat in the chair, the skull on his head shaking lightly. He was in sorrow, for sure, but there was nothing you could do for him but to let him be.

"(Y/N)! My God, (Y/N)!" Loud hysterical screams of your mother came from outside, right before she threw the door open and barged into the house. "Call the doctor, the hospital, anyone!"

"Wait! What's going on?" You tried to ask as calm as you could, trying not to get influenced by your mother's hysterical behavior.

Of course there was something wrong though. But this wouldn't be the first time that one of dad's friends would break a bone, fall from a cliff or get hit by a rock, etcetera. Your father and his colleagues were archeologists, so that speaks for itself.

The eyes of your mother were set to a horrified gaze, unable to think calmly. "Just call an ambulance!" You didn't even bother to nod at her, instead you dashed straight into the living-room, past Farr and to the phone, ready to dial the needed number.

"Your father and his colleagues stumbled on a new discovery. They've been trying to dig it out for the past few hours and they succeeded, but…" Her voice trailed off as she recalled the memory she had witnessed just moments before. "…I don't know what happened. One moment your father's colleague was holding the piece in his hand, the next moment the thing begins to glow and he's down on the ground!"

Nothing more you needed to hear. Turning to the phone, your fingertips moved to the needed numbers for the alarm-call. Your Cubone had probably pushed his own worries aside for now because he was tugging lightly at the fabric of your pants; wanting to help you if possible.

Turning to the small pokemon, you made a gesture with your hand towards the door. "Go outside and help dad and the others, if you can!"

Farr gave a quick nod, causing the skull on his head to tilt lightly forward causing him to secure it safely on his head again before he sprinted out the door, your mother following him quickly afterwards.

Someone on the other side of the phone answered and you mentioned the accident, as vague as it seemed to be. It's not like your mother told you any possible detail of it. This made the woman question if you weren't just prank calling. But once you gave through the address of the accident, she suddenly cooperated.

It was known that people got involved in an accident once in a while here in the mountains. At the end of the call, they assured you that an ambulance was on it's way and that it would take at least five to ten minutes before they would arrive. You knew it would take longer, since making your way up the mountain was not a very quick task but you decided to leave that little fact out of the conversation. When the both of you hung up, you grabbed your coat from the chair and dashed outside as well.

Outside, it was even worse than you had imagined.

There was an entire group of people circled around the place where dad's colleague was laying on the ground. It existed out of people who were just talking a simple walk through the mountains to people who had heard the commotion and wanted to investigate what had happened in hopes to hear some exciting or awful news.

You sighed to yourself. Soon or later the journalists would be appearing and this whole event would be in tomorrow's newspaper all over Hoenn. Like usual.

Trying to push people aside in the most gentle manner you could. The motionless body of your father's colleague finally came within view- you gasped out loud in pure horror. He was so pale, there were black marks visible under his eyes as if he hadn't gotten a good night's rest in ages.

His forehead was sweating heavily and his breathing sounded awfully wrong, like he couldn't breathe. But with the movements of his chest, you were certain that he could certainly breathe. Next to his side was your own father, who had not noticed that you had joined the terrible sightseeing. He was holding the hand of his colleague firmly. To your father it wasn't just a colleague with work, but it was also his best comrade.

Seeing them both like this was heartbreaking and you had to bit your lower lip to restrain yourself from getting emotional, trying to comfort yourself with the fact that the ambulance crew would arrive soon.

Stepping away from the crowd, you couldn't help but to wonder, had all this happened to your father's friend just because he had touched an object they dug up?

"Cu, cubone!" The familiar voice made you gaze downwards to your best friend. It was unbelievable how he acted all distant from you at first but now suddenly all normal again. You kneeled down to him, petting the skull on his head, "Hey Farr, what a mess, isn't it?"

The cubone gave a big nod, gazing to the crowd with quite a saddened look in his eyes. "Cubone…" He whispered softly as he lifted his tiny arms up, showing you something.

"Huh?" You muttered, eying the object in his claws in an awkward manner, "Where did you find this?" Farr pointed with his claw towards the crowd. And for a moment you were not sure what he meant with that. Had one of the people dropped this during the commotion?

Just as you were about to touch the tiny piece of green glass, or stone, whatever it was. A sudden flash went through your mind like an awful sting.

"Agh!" You moaned at the sudden sting of pain, holding your head with one hand. Nobody seemed to notice it except Farr, but even he didn't looked too concerned. As quickly as it appeared it had subdued- leaving you completely confused about what just happened.

But with a fact richer. Because when you looked back at the green stone resting in Farr's claws. You knew that no matter what… You. Could. Not. Touch. That. Stone.

Amazed with the sudden discovery, you stared back with widened eyes at where your father's friend was laying. The crew of the ambulance had finally arrived, behind your realization just now. And they were checking his breathing, heartbeat and pulse before they finally decided to go with the plan to just escort him to the hospital for a more thoroughly examination.

Once he had been loaded within the ambulance, your father hopped in as well, refusing to leave his comrade alone. Your father felt guilty and responsible, you were sure of it. And of course, a journalist had arrived. Who was now mixed in an intense conversation between your mother and the rest of your father's friends who had witnessed the accident.

"Cubone?" Farr asked as he lowered the stone, wanting to keep it away from the eyes of the journalist, anyone who couldn't control their curiosity for that matter. You couldn't help but to stare at the piece of rock with amazement and horror combined.

"This… this must've been the cause for the accident. But… why can you hold it while dad's friend passed out due it?"

"Cubone, cubone!" Farr said to you.

You shook your head, "You're right… I do not know if this stone is the cause for it all."

Quite honestly, it was barely worth calling it a stone. It was more like a small shard, from a round object. The colors were a mix of different shades of green. And there was a little bright yellow stripe running over the shard. But that was all to describe this possible dangerous piece of stone.

"Farr, keep this in your possession." You told him, staring him seriously in the eyes. He was someone you could certainly count on though. "I'm afraid that when humans touch this they will end up the same way as dad's friend. I'm not certain of that fact, but let's take caution…"

"Oh! Is this the object you were speaking of?"

"Excuse me?" You quickly whirled around in surprise, only to be met with a microphone in front of your face and a woman with a camera-man standing behind her, filming the entire event. Much to your irritation.

Great, your plan of keeping the object a secret from the rest had just fallen in the water. Now it would attract the attention of everyone in the world who just happened to watch the morning news.

Next to her, was your mother, who nodded at the woman's question. "Yes. That is the stone that caused Luke to pass out. He had picked it up and just barely five seconds later he was on the ground looking like the sickest person in the world… I-I don't know…" She was slowly starting to tear up and you felt sorry for your mother to have witnessed something as terrible like this. She was a very emotional person from nature, so she took these kind of things very hardly.

"Right, right. Tell me, girl!" The woman turned to you, not seeming to be bothered by the trouble your mother was going through. It made you heavily agitated at the woman. These kind of people were always like this, demanding to get to know about anything but not caring about what effect it had on others.

"I have a name, it's (Y/N)." You responded coldly. Down by your feet, Farr let out a loud huff to match your sudden mood switch, looking not pleased at all.

"(Y/N), where were you when this horrendous accident took place?" The woman asked and you couldn't help but to pass a glare straight into the camera behind her. This would probably go nation-wide. But you were so used to these people by now that you honestly didn't care anymore.

"Was minding my own business inside until my mother alerted me to call the alarm-number." You responded simply, adding nothing more than what they asked for.

"What were your first thoughts involving this accident?" The woman continued in a tone that made it clear that she wanted to drain every little detail out of you.

"I'm sure you can think up a few yourself." You looked down at Farr, "Let's go Farr. We're getting out of here, I don't want to be asked these sorts of ridiculous questions when they've got the brains to think over how we all must feel about this accident." With that made clear, your Cubone made an agreeing sound and faithfully followed your example.

"Ho wait!" The woman shrieked behind you. The camera-man suddenly stepped in front of your Cubone, zooming in to the object located in it's tiny arms, "That's the stone that caused all this, is it not?!"

Farr growled deeply and lifted his bone-club, ready to pummel at the camera. But the man took notice of this and quickly redrew the device, holding it at a safe distance from the now agitated pokemon. You didn't even bother to pay attention to the two people anymore and kept walking determined towards the house, hoping you would get some privacy there.

Your mother called out for you, "(Y/N)! Hold on just a second, dear!"

"Mom, they know enough!" You shouted back at her. "Let them ask Luke about it once he gets out of the hospital. We don't know anything about what happened in the first place…"

With that, you opened the door, allowing Farr to sneak inside before you forcefully slammed the door shut. Letting the people outside know that you were through with them.

You were sitting by the table, staring blankly at your bowl of morning cereal with a lack of appetite. Once a while you would eat a bit before going into a state of deep thought again. Farr was sitting on the table, enjoying his meal of food much more than you did.

Dad's friend, Luke, was still hospitalized- with an unknown cause. Your father himself was also still in the hospital, by his best friend's side. You couldn't blame him, if Farr would be injured, you would spend all the time with him until he had recovered. It's just something you do for the ones you hold dear.

Your mother was still in a slight depression. Not being able to believe that something this horrible had to happen right here in the mountains. Since a lot of people often came here to dig for stones, fossils and whatnot, accidents were bound to happen. But this definitely had to be one of the worst cases so far.

Currently, your mother was silently watching the news on the television in the living room. And naturally, the accident was discussed and shown all over the channels.

After all the commotion had disappeared yesterday, you and your mother gathered by the table about what to do with that piece of rock Farr recovered. She concluded that it was without a doubt- the stone Luke had touched.

Your mother gave you the task of escorting the stone to your aunt Elly in Fortree city. She used to be a famous archeologist herself before she retired. Now she spent her years into studying legends and myths and everything else involving rare stones and objects.

She would offer her advice and knowledge to anyone who came to her with questions. At least once or twice a month, you were sent to her to deliver things your father had found. So the two of you were pretty close. In fact, she was like a second mother to you.

However, there was one little problem. You couldn't touch that stone, if you had to trust Luke's reaction to it. Although it still hadn't clarified if the stone was really the cause for it, but you and your mother didn't wanted to take any dangerous chances.

And so, your mother had retrieved a small pouch and Farr had dropped the small piece of stone into it. You two figured that it would take 'stone to skin' contact for it to do it's damaging effect, so like this you would be safe. Hopefully…

After finishing your breakfast with a little bit of trouble, since you weren't really hungry. You got your purse and any needed things for the small trip to your aunt. It wasn't a very long trip, seeing that you lived on the top of a mountain near Fortree. But the large foliage around the area would always make it a harder trip than you expected. Not to mention the constant rain showers…

Securing the small pouch within one of your coat's most hidden pockets, you approached the door. "Mom, I'm heading to aunt Elly now!" You shouted through the kitchen.

Farr hopped off the table and climbed up your body until he was suited on your shoulder, looking really excited to be able to go on a trip with you again, "Cubone!"

"Okay dear! Make sure to give me a call when you arrived, alright?"

Of course, the standard promise. She knew your answer would always be yes, but she still made sure that you did every time you left for a trip. You smiled at the motherly concern,

"Of course mom! Bye!" You opened the door.

"Be careful and have a safe journey, (Y/N)!" Her last goodbyes were still audible once you had shut the door behind you. Casting a glance up to the sky, you noticed that there was not a cloud in sight yes, much to your relief.

After spending at least an hour descending down the path of the mountain, you finally reached normal grounds. Although you were rather up there instead of these large woods with an unending load of gigantic foliage growing everywhere.

It was a good thing that you knew the direction to Fortree out of your head, otherwise you would've had a really hard time to find out where to go. But still, there was always a chance of getting lost.

You let out a breath while viewing the area surrounding you. "Farr, if we get surprised by a wild pokemon, you'll be ready to battle, right?" You asked your little friend. Knowing that things down here in the woods could get tough at some times.

Your cubone let out a competitive roar. As if it were saying; 'What? Of course I am! You don't even have to ask!'

You couldn't help but to chuckle at Farr's behavior. He seemed to be feeling a lot better at the moment. And the fact that he was willing to do anything for you when he was, made you feel somehow flattered. Farr was the perfect Pokemon to have as a companion. So much better than the other companion you carried around in a pokeball…

You discarded the disappointed feelings about your other Pokemon companion into a mental garbage can and moved on with the trip. Along the way you encountered an awful lot of people. Most of them were trainers, who would come right up to you once they spotted you.

Only to have you disappoint them with the fact that you were not a Pokemon trainer. Some of them would walk away with a complete depressed feature on their faces, making you slightly guilty. But currently, you were not in the situation to even have time for battles.

Here and there, a wild pokemon would appear. Most of them were small zigzagoon's, a small raccoon pokemon. But they just seemed to be really curious of who was passing by in their territory. But you and Farr kept a strict eye on them. Zigzagoon were known to steal the possessions from traveling people and the least thing you wanted was them to run off with the weird dangerous stone.

Time passed by and before you knew it, it was somewhere in the evening already. The color of the sky had changed to a dark atmosphere with red and purple colors mixed together. It was quite a lovely sight and if you had the time, you would sit down for a moment to take a nice picture of it with your camera.

But you didn't have the time, it would take at least 30 more minutes before you would arrive at your aunt's place and you wanted to arrive before it had gotten completely dark.

The last path you had to follow was one that went straight ahead. But at this time, there was nobody to be seen. With another look up to the sky, you found out why- a group of dark clouds that most likely carried rain were slowly inching closer.

Groaning at the sight, you quickened your pace, hoping to arrive before the clouds would unleash their might upon you and Farr.

"Cubone….?" Farr muttered, having a dazedly look in his eyes. You nodded at him, running your hand across his chin, "We're almost there. You shouldn't even be complaining. I'm the one doing all the walking here."

Farr's eyes snapped open at your comment and he tilted his head upwards. "C-cubone! Cubone!" He started to shout as he lifted the bone in his hand.

"Huh, is it starting to rain already?" You wondered out loud, figuring it was the reason why Farr suddenly acted so loud. Ground type pokemon like Farr were not really fond of water.

"CU, CUBONE, CUBONE!" He started to screech while swinging his bone club wildly around, barely missing your head.

"Hey now! Calm down! I told you we're almost there…" You trailed off as a dark shadow fell upon you and Farr, causing you to look upwards to the sky.

Instantly, your eyes widened and you gasped out loud, frozen in place.

"Cubone!" Farr growled out loud, throwing his bone club into the air at whatever was diving downwards towards you two.

The last thing you witnessed was a loud, piercing screech before darkness overtook you.


End file.
